Belated News: Former Falun Gong Coordinator in Daqing Dies 4 Days after His Arrest in 1999

February 18, 2017 | By a Minghui correspondent in Heilongjiang Province

(Minghui.org) A Daqing resident died days after his July 22, 1999 arrest. He was arrested two days after the Chinese communist regime openly launched its persecution of Falun Gong, a spiritual discipline based on the principle of Truthfulness-Compassion-Forbearance.

Mr. Li Baoshui, then human resources manager of Daqing Labor Bureau, was targeted because he was the volunteer coordinator of local Falun Gong practitioners.

The police tried to get Mr. Li to disclose “his Falun Gong roster.” He told them that people were free to come and go in Falun Gong cultivation, and that no one ever maintained a list of practitioners.

Ms. Li’s wife received a phone call on July 26, asking her to bring in some water and clothing for her husband. She went, but was not allowed to say anything to her husband. She noted that he had become almost unrecognizable in just a few days.

She was summoned back to the police station not long after she returned home. This time, she only saw her husband’s dead body on the cold cement floor.

The police refused to explain why Mr. Li had died within four days of his arrest. More than 17 years have passed, but his family’s efforts to seek justice for him have gone in vain. No department or agency is willing to look into his case. His family has been turned away time and again.

Recently an insider revealed to the family what they heard from a police officer in Qiqihar City, who once had a few drinks together with an officer from Daqing. This Daqing officer said Mr. Li didn’t jump to his death, but was pushed out of the window.

The Qiqihar officer wondered why Daqing police did that to Mr. Li, and the Daqing officer said they got mad at Mr. Li for refusing to give them the info they wanted.

Mr. Li’s family is not sure about the authenticity of the story, but they never doubted that Mr. Li had died a suspicious death at the age of 39.

Background Info on Mr. Li

Mr. Li and his four friends arrived in Guangzhou City, Guangdong Province on December 21, 1994 to attend Master Li Hongzhi’s Fa-teaching seminar. The sold out stadium had already been filled with 6,000 attendees.

The organizer consulted with Master Li, who agreed to add one more person to the stadium.

Mr. Li’s friends all said that he should go inside to represent the Daqing area. Mr. Li was very excited and humbled to be able to attend Master Li’s last Fa-teaching seminar in China.

Master Li asked Mr. Li to spread the practice to people in Daqing, and Mr. Li volunteered to become the coordinator after he returned home. In the next few years, Mr. Li worked tirelessly to promote Falun Gong, and the number of practitioners reached 25,000 before the persecution began in July 1999.